THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE
the voyage will include ports of the
Newfoundland, Labrador, Greenland,
Ellesmere Land, and the Baffin's Bay
coast. The unique feature of this pre
liminary trip will be the fact that Com
mander Peary has made arrangements
to comfortably accommodate a number
of passengers. The opportunity to bag
walrus and polar bears will doubtless
attract many sportsmen, while scientific
men will be interested in this unusual
opportunity to study ethnology and geol
ogy of the great white North. Com
mander Peary has entrusted the details
of making up the party to the Committee
on Applications, at 3 West Twenty-ninth
street, New York city.
SOME RECENT ENGLISH STATEMENTS
ABOUT THE ANTARCTIC
N an article about the English Ant
arctic Expedition in the Scottish
Geog7aphical Magazine for May, 1904,
at page 265, it is stated that "the Dis
covery succeeded in proving the non
existence of Wilkes Land."
In an
article by Sir Clements R. Markham,
President of the Royal Geographic So
ciety, " The Antarctic Expedition," in
The GeographicalJournalfor May, 1904,
at page 551, he states : "On March 2
the Discovery passed through the Bal
leny group. Continuing westward to
the i 5 6th meridian, near Adelie Land,
it was found that the coast line shown
on the chart east of that land is a mis
take. No such land exists."
If Captain Scott, after passing through
the Balleny Islands, only sailed as far
west as the i 5 6th meridian, he could at
the most have disproved the existence
of the extremest western points which
Wilkes thought he sighted, namely,
Ringgold Knoll and Eld Peak; but as
nothing appears to be said so far of the
latitude in which the Discovery sailed
west, even this must remain an open
question until further information ; and
the statement that " the Discovery suc
ceeded in proving the non-existence of
Wilkes Land," which extends for some
fifty-five degrees of longitude west of
156° east longitude, is simply prepos
terous.
If Captain Scott did not sail west of
156° east longitude, he did not get
within some sixteen degrees of longi
tude,over three hundred miles, of Adelie
Land, and he did not approach Cape
Hudson, Point Emmons, Point Case,
Point Alden, Peacock Bay, and Disap
pointment Bay, and therefore Sir Clem
ents R. Markham's statement "that
the coast line shown on the chart east.
of that [Adelie] land is a mistake; no
such land exists," is entirely unwar
ranted.
It seems well to call the attention of
Americans to this matter, so that they
may take cognizance of the fact that
some British geographers, led by Sir
Clements R. Markham, will perhaps
make renewed efforts to smother and
obliterate all remembrance of American
discoveries in the Antarctic.
EDWIN SWIFT BALCH.
Philadelphia,May 21, 1904.
SEARCH FOR BARON TOLL
THE Imperial Academy of Sciences
" at St Petersburg has offered a
reward for finding Baron Toll's expedi
tion or any traces of it.
Baron Edward Toll, chief of the Polar
expedition sent out by the Academy of
Sciences, left the Bennett Island, lying
north of New Siberia, on November 8,
1902, taking a southern direction. He
was accompanied by the astronomer
Seeberg and two Jakoots, Vassily Goro
khov, with the surname Chichak, and
Nicolas Protodiakonow, with the sur
name Omook. The party seem to have
been carried away by the ice, as the
searches heretofore have been in vain.
A reward of 5,000 roubles is offered by
the Academy of Sciences for finding the
whole party or any part of it, and a re
ward of 2,500 roubles for giving the first
exact indications of tracing the party.
266